Sawmill set-works.



No.7 723,794. PA'TENTED MAR. 24, 1903.

T. S. WILKIN.

SAWMILL SET WORKS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 30,;902. no MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED MAR. 24, 1903. v 'T. s. WILKIN-Q Q SAWMILL SET WORKS. APPLICATION FILED JULY 30, 1902.

a SHEETS-SHEET 2.

H0 MODEL.

No.723,794. PATENTBD MAR.24,19 03.

I T. s. WILKIN.

- SAWMILL SET WORKS.

APPLICATION nun JULY 30, 1902. v no MODEL. a sums-sun: a.

III/11% UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE S. WILKIN, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

SAWMILL SET-WORKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 723,794, dated March 24, 1903.

Application filed m 30, oz. Serial to. 117,603 (No model) To all whom it may concern-.-

waukee and State of Wisconsin,have invented anewandusefullmprovementin SawmillSet Works,of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this specification.

In sawmill set-works in and by which the knees on the log-carriage are moved up a certain predetermined distance, whereby the log is moved that predetermined distance with reference to cutting therefrom'a plank,'a board, or a thinner slice of the log, the setworks consist substantially of two sets of-de-" vices-first, means for adjusting the set-works.

to adapt them for moving the knees the predetermined distance, and, second, the means so adjusted for moving the knees the predetermined distance.

My present invention relates to the second of the above-mentioned means and is adapted to be employed in connection With setworks of the character and form of the setworks shown and described in my application for patent, Serial No. 94,930, filedFebruary The invention consists of the mechanism, its parts, and combinations of parts, as herein described and claimed, or the equivalents thereof. t

In the drawings, Figure l is a top plan view of a logcarrier with the knees thereon movable laterally thereof and with set-works in the proper relation thereto, which set-works include my improved means for directly rotating the shaft that moves the knees. Fig. 2 is a transverse section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1 looking toward the right. Fig. 3 is a view, partly in section, of my improved means for moving the knees in connection with the adjusting means in the set-Works. Fig. 4 is a detail showing the end'of a reciprocating head and of parts of "mechanism related to this head. Fig. 5 isa transverse section on line 5 5 of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a plan view of another form of the means for shifting the knees, to be employed, if desired, in the place of the mechanism shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

In the drawings, 1 represents alog-carriage having the transverse head-blocks 2 2 thereeccentric. the wrist of a-crank-arm 16, which is keyed ,on, on which the knees 33 are mounted to' Be it known that. I, THEODORE S. WILKIN,\ residing at Milwaukee, in the county of Milk travel transversely of the carriage. The knees-are provided on their under surfaces Ywit'h'racks which gear with pinions on the shaft 4. The shaft 4 is mounted revolublyin is reciprocable on ways on the cylinder, the

yoke being provided with rack-teeth 9, that mesh with pinions 1O 10 on a sleeve 11, loose on the shaft 4. The sleeve 11 is mounted rotatively in brackets 12 12, fixed on the carriage. An eccentric 13 is fixed on the sleeve 11, and an eccentric-arm 14 encircles and rides on the A rod 15 connects the arm 14 to on a rock-shaft 17, which rock-shaft is mounted in the brackets 5 and 12. For adjusting the position of the eccentric-arm 14. with reference to the rock-shaft 17 a lever-handle 18 isprovided, which lever-handle is connected by a rod 19 to the arm 14, advisably at the pivotal connectionof the rod 15 with the arm 14. The lever handle 18 is pivoted on a bracket 12, and a segmental rack 20 is employed for holding the lever-handle 18 in adjusted position. At one end-the rack 20 is mounted on the carriage by means of a bracerod2l, and at the other end the rack is secured adjustably to the bracket 12 by means of a bolt 22, fixed in the bracket and passing through a slot in the rack. The hand-lever 18 is locked to the rack 20 releasably by a double spring-catch 23 23.

The mechanism thus far described specifically is found in my application for patent, Serial No. 94,930, and is not herein claimedspecifically as invention.

For rotating the shaft 4 to apredetermined extent by means of the rocking of the shaft 17 to such extent as by the adjustmentof the means hereinbefore described such rock-shaft will oscillate during the outward and inward movement of the yoke 8 in one complete reciprocation I provide the following improved means: A beveled toothed wheel 24 is fixed on shaft 4 and gears with a pinion25, fixed on a screw 26. This screw has a bearing rotatively in a block 27 therefor on the carriage. To prevent endwise movement of the screw 26, it is provided with collars 28 28, one at each side of the block 27, and advisably bearing-balls 29 29 are interposed between the block and the collars in suitable annular grooves therefor. The screw 26 is provided with screw-th reads 30, which are preferably in the form of grooves or channels, winding in one direction and with reversely-winding threads 31 in the other direction. A hollow reciprocating head 32 is provided, that is adapted to travel back and forth on ways 33, fixed on the carriage. The head 32 may conveniently consist of two ends 34 34, a cylindrical shell 35, and binding-bolts 36. VVithin this head there are two traversing, n uts 37 38 on and about the screw 2b, the nuts being provided with teeth or threads 39, that take into the screw-thread channels in the screw 26, the threads on the nuts 37 being arranged to travel in the threads 30 and the threads on the nut 38 being adapted to travel in the threads 3i on the screw 26. These nuts 37 38 abut against each other and at their outer ends bea r, respectively, against the ends 34 of the head 32, bearing-balls 40 being advisably interposed between the ends of the nuts and the ends of the head.- These nuts 37 and 38 are each provided circumferentially with rack-teeth 4i ,and a pawl or pawls 42 42,moun ted in the head 32, are adapted to engage the rack-teeth on the nuts. I advisably employ a plurality of pawls with each nut, the pawls of each series (three are shown) being of different lengths, so as to be adapted to take into the rack-teeth when the nuts are in positions therefor respectively, whereby the return motion of the nuts is prevented by either one of the three pawls, thus preventing lost motion and, in effect, locking and holding the nut against backward movement at any one of three positions, the length of which movement is equal to the one-third of the circumferential length of a tooth. By this construction each tooth on each nut serves for holding the nut in any one of three positions in the same manner that the nut could be held with one pawl when there were three teeth occupying the space of one tooth in the form shown. It will be observed that the teeth on both nuts as mounted on the screw 26 face the same way. The rock-shaft 17 is connected to the reciprocating head 32 by means of crank-arms 43 43, fixed on the rock-shaft, and links 44 44, pivoted to the wrists of the crank arms and on stud-pins fixed in the sides of the head 32. It will be understood that by this construction when the crank-arm 17 is oscillated to any extent whatever the head 32 will be reciprocated correspondingly on its ways 33 and that the nuts 37 and 38 therein being held against rotation in one direction will compel the rotation of the screw 26, and corresp ondingly of the shaft 4, in one direction both by the inward and by the outward movement of the reciprocating head. Hence the shaft 4 will always be rotated in one direction by the action of the screw 26, the extent of such rotation being predetermined by the position of the lever-handle 1 8, and consequently of the eccentric 14, with reference to the rockshaft and its crank-arm 16. A clutch 45, one member of which is secured to the shaft 4 and the other member of which is secured to the sleeve ll, isadapted for coupling the sleeve to the shaft to thereby secure a return movement of the shaft and the knees 3. To accomplish this return movement of the knees by coupling the sleeve 11 directly to the shaft 4 and then rotating the shaft by means of the reciprocation of the yokerack 8, the pawls 42 must be lifted out of engagement with the nuts 37 38, so as to permit of the reverse rotation of the reversely-threaded screw 26.

In the form of construction shown in Fig. 6 two beveled wheels 24 24 are fixed on the shaft 4, and each of these wheels meshes with a pinion on a screw 26' 26', which screws are threaded in the same direction. In the reciprocat-ing, head 32 the two nuts 37 and 38 are mounted, one on each of the screws 26,whereby the single screw with reversely-winding threads is obviated. Otherwise the construction is substantially the same as that shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5.

Concerningthe value of the set-works illustrated in the drawings and hereinbefore described, it should be said that heretofore for the purpose of moving the knees of set-works proper distances for setting a log for cutting therefrom boards or strips of desired thicknesses hand-levers in connection with segmental graduated guides have been employed in the endeavor to enable the attendant to properly throw the lever to move the knees the desired distance for this purpose; but in actual practice such means have proved unreliable and unsatisfactory because it was impossible for the attendant to accurately throw thelever every time. Also wheels with friction devices have been employed for moving the knees; but under the great strain existing in the use of sawmill set-works such friction devices have been found liable to slip, and therefore unreliable, because they either did not move the knees quite far enough with a large log or moved them a little too far with a small log, and wheels or segments with ratchets and pawls have been employed whereby to move the knees to a predetermined distance, fixed by the size of the teeth of the ratchet; but these have proven unreliable in some instances and unsatisfactory in others, since when the teeth have been made very small, whereby it was hoped to secure a very slight or close adjustment, the pawls have been found to slip on the teeth or the attendant would move the wheel a little too far, so as to get into the next notch from that desired,and when the teeth were large then it became impossible to set the knees closely for a desired thickness of board or materialas, for instance, to the one-sixtyfourth of an inch; but with the improved construction herein shown and described the knees may be moved up a predetermined distance exactly the same every time by the full throw of the lever, even tothe one-sixtyfourth of-an inch, and this may be done not only in the sawing of the principal part of the log, but even with the last board thereof. It will therefore be understood that the improved set-works herein shown and described, because of their capability of easy movement and their capability of setting the knees exactly, without variation, to a predetermined position, even when such position is limited to any small fraction of an inch, arc practically of great value. I

What I claim as my invention is 1. In sawmill set-works provided with a to tatable shaft for moving the knees, means for rotating the shaft, comprising a gear-wheel on the shaft, a revoluble screw having a pinion gearing with said wheel, a reciprocable head, a nut in said head in which nut said screw turns, means in the head holding said nut against rotation therein, and means for reciprocating said head.

2. In sawmill set-works provided with arotatable shaft for moving the knees, means for rotating the shaft, comprising a gear-wheel on the shaft, a revoluble reversely-threaded screw having a pinion meshing with said wheel, a reciprocable head, two nuts in said head through which nuts said screw turns one nut traveling on one of the threads of the screw and the other nut traveling on the reverse thread of the screw, means holding the nuts against rotation in the head, and means for reciprocating the head.

3. In sawmill set-works provided with a r0- tatable shaft for moving the knees, means for rotating the shaft, comprising a revoluble screw or screws geared to said shaft, a reciprocable head through which said screw or screws extend, nuts having end hearings in said head and through which nuts said screw or screws turn, means holding said nuts against rotation under strain on said screw or screws caused by the reciprocable movement'of thehead, and means for reciprocating said head.

4. In sawmill set-works, a rotatable kneemoving shaft, a revoluble reversely-threaded screw geared to said shaft, a reciprocable head on and about the screw, ways on which the. reciprocable head travels, nuts having end hearings in the head and traveling respectively on a thread of the screw, means holding the nuts against rotation in one direction screw geared to said shaft, areciprocable head on and about the screw, ways on which the reciprocable head travels, nuts having end bearings in the head and traveling-respectively on a thread of the screw, pawls mounted in the heads and engaging releasably ratchet-" teeth arranged circumferentially on the nuts holding the nuts against rotation in one di rection under strain on the screw, and means for reciprocating said head.

-6. In sawmill set-works, a rotatable kneemoving shaft, a revoluble reversely-threaded screw geared to said shaft, a reciprocable head on and about the screw, ways on which the reciprocable head travels, nuts having end bearings in the head and traveling respectively on a thread of the screw, two sets of pawls mounted-in the head, the pawls of each set being of different lengths and the pawls of each set of pawls being adapted to releasably engage ratchetteeth in common arranged circumferentially on one of said nuts but in different positions of the nut, holding the nut against rotation in one direction under strain on the screw, and means for recipro'cating said head.

7. In sawmill set-works, a rotatable kneemoving shaft, a reversely-threaded screw mounted revolubly against endwise' movement and gearedlo said shaft, a reciprocable head, nuts having end bearings in saidhead in which nuts said screw turns by its respective'threads, means in the head for'holding the nuts against rotation in one direction under strain on the screw, an oscillating rockshaft, means connecting the oscillating rockshaft to the head in such manner that the oscillation of the shaft reciprocates the head.

8. In means for moving the knees of a sawmill-carriage, a revoluble screw, a reciprocable head, a nut in said head in which nut the screw turns, means in the head holding said nut against rotation in one direction, means for reciprocating the nut and means adapted to transmute the revoluble motion of the screw into straight movement in one direction of the knees on the carriage.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses. v

THEODORE S. WILKIN.

Witnesses: I

ANNA V. FAUST, C. T. BENEDICT. 

